Warfare in Late Byzantium, 1204-1453
Biographical note
Savvas Kyriakidis, PhD (2007) in Byzantine Studies, University of Birmingham, is a former research fellow at Koç University and at Princeton University. Other publications include "The Division of Booty in Late Byzantium" in Jahrbuch der Österreichischen Byzantinistik (2009).
Readership
All those interested in Byzantine history, Medieval history, military history, Ottoman history, the Crusades, Balkan history, Near Eastern and Middle Eastern History.
Table of contents
Acknowledgments ... ix
Note on Transliteration ... xi
Abbreviations ... xiii
Maps ... xvii
Introduction ... 1
1. Warfare and Imperial Propaganda ... 13
The inevitability of warfare ... 13
The militaristic ideology of Nicaea ... 16
Changes in the military profile of the emperor after the recovery of Constantinople ... 20
Andronikos II and the ideological importance of defensive wars against the Turks ... 25
The military profile of the emperor under Andronikos III and John VI Kantakouzenos ... 30
Fighting against impious barbarians and natural enemies ... 36
2. Commanders ... 45
The military character of the late Byzantine aristocracy ... 45
The role of Western European military ideals and practices ... 51
The effectiveness of Byzantine generals on the battlefield ... 60
The ideal leadership ... 69
3. Soldiers ... 75
Pronoia holders ... 75
The Allagia ... 82
The Nicaean frontier troops, the Proselantai and the Thelematarioi ... 93
The case of the despotate of the Morea ... 96
4. Mercenaries ... 101
The use of mercenaries ... 101
Categories of mercenaries ... 104
Byzantine attitudes towards mercenaries ... 118
5. Campaigns ... 137
6. Fortifications and Sieges ... 157
The role of fortifications ... 157
Siege warfare: The evidence of the written sources ... 170
The impact of gunpowder on Byzantine warfare ... 187
7. Tactics ... 197
Late Byzantine cavalry and field tactics against Western Europeans ... 197
Battlefield Tactics against the Turks ... 203
Infantry ... 216
Conclusion ... 221
Glossary ... 229
Bibliography:
Primary Sources ... 231
Secondary Sources ... 234
Index ... 245
Note on Transliteration ... xi
Abbreviations ... xiii
Maps ... xvii
Introduction ... 1
1. Warfare and Imperial Propaganda ... 13
The inevitability of warfare ... 13
The militaristic ideology of Nicaea ... 16
Changes in the military profile of the emperor after the recovery of Constantinople ... 20
Andronikos II and the ideological importance of defensive wars against the Turks ... 25
The military profile of the emperor under Andronikos III and John VI Kantakouzenos ... 30
Fighting against impious barbarians and natural enemies ... 36
2. Commanders ... 45
The military character of the late Byzantine aristocracy ... 45
The role of Western European military ideals and practices ... 51
The effectiveness of Byzantine generals on the battlefield ... 60
The ideal leadership ... 69
3. Soldiers ... 75
Pronoia holders ... 75
The Allagia ... 82
The Nicaean frontier troops, the Proselantai and the Thelematarioi ... 93
The case of the despotate of the Morea ... 96
4. Mercenaries ... 101
The use of mercenaries ... 101
Categories of mercenaries ... 104
Byzantine attitudes towards mercenaries ... 118
5. Campaigns ... 137
6. Fortifications and Sieges ... 157
The role of fortifications ... 157
Siege warfare: The evidence of the written sources ... 170
The impact of gunpowder on Byzantine warfare ... 187
7. Tactics ... 197
Late Byzantine cavalry and field tactics against Western Europeans ... 197
Battlefield Tactics against the Turks ... 203
Infantry ... 216
Conclusion ... 221
Glossary ... 229
Bibliography:
Primary Sources ... 231
Secondary Sources ... 234
Index ... 245
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